What if I told you that the most meaningful, profound adventures of your life were hiding in plain sight? That many of your deepest human longings will not be satisfied by the infinite possibilities of the wide world, but rather through the narrowness of the next door over. Jesus knew this. That’s why he gave us the second greatest commandment:…

The first and only step required to experience mercy, the Pope added, is to acknowledge that we are in need of mercy. “Jesus comes for us, when we recognize that we are sinners.” All that’s necessary is not to imitate the Pharisee who stood in front of the altar and thanked God for not being a sinner “like other men.”…

This is a great lesson. Which monk are you? Four monks took a vow of silence. When night came, one of them said, “Fix the lamps.” The second replied, “We are not supposed to speak.” The third said, “Stupid fools! Why did you talk?” The fourth said to himself in silence, “I am now the only one who has not…

To each man one soul only is given; to each soul only is given a little power — the power at some moments to outgrow and swallow up the stars. If age after age that power comes upon men, whatever gives it to them is great. Whatever makes men feel old is mean — an empire or a skin-flint shop.…

I love finding simple, beautiful, meaningful art. This picture stuns me every time I look at it. I get lost in it. The expressions. The style. The love. The serpent. The humanity. Jesus at the center. There’s something very special about it. So I thought I’d share it with you. It has a moving poem to go with it (see below).…

“Somebody who reads only newspapers and at best the books of contemporary authors looks to me like an extremely nearsighted person who scorns eyeglasses. He is completely dependent on the prejudices and fashions of his times, since he never gets to see or hear anything else. And what a person thinks on his own without being stimulated by the thoughts…

Material beings are moved from without, like billiard balls; but spiritual beings are moved from within. The first cause of a specifically human act is always internal, not external. By “a specifically human act” I mean one like asking a question, creating a work of art, making a moral choice, affirming another person, or appreciating the beauty of nature —…

In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?” The other replies, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.” “Nonsense,” says the other. “There is no life after delivery. What would that life be?” “I…

People get from books the idea that if you have married the right person you may expect to go on ‘being in love’ forever. As a result, when they find they are not, they think this proves they have made a mistake and are entitled to a change — not realizing that, when they have changed, the glamour will presently…

Children are much more grounded than adults. They are seeing everything for the first time, so they’ve yet to grow aloof to the wonders of reality. When an elephant emerges from the jungle, a child will leap in excitement as if they had seen a three-headed unicorn…as it just as well should have been a three-headed unicorn. Children live in…